Mileage-register for tires.



c. H. VEEIJER. MILEAGE REGISTER FOR TIRES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.26 I914.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

INVENTOR Ana/mm UNITED STATES PATE T OFFI CURTIS HUssEY VEEDER, or HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 was VEEDEB.

MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION orig;

m Application filed December as, 1914. Serial No. 879,156. I

To all whom it may concern: 3

Be it known that I, CURTIS HUssnY VEEDER, a citizen of the United States, re-

sidingin the city of Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mileage-Reg isters for Tires, of which the followingjs a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part hereof. v

This invention has for its object to provide a register which will indicate ap'proxi- -mately the extent of use of, or the distance traveled by, a vehicle tire and for conven- 'ienc'eof terminology the device embodying the invention is referred to herein as a' register of the mileage of such a tire.

It is now common practice for the manufacturers of tires, and particularly the manufacturers of pneumatictires for automobiles, to guarantee a certain mileage for their tires at a stipulated air pressure, and it therefore becomes necessary to have a register which will register the approximate mileage of a tire at a known pressure and will also register, or compensate properly for, all mileage made while the tire is at 'a pressure belowthat stipulated. The wear .on a tire at low pressure is greater than the wear on the same tire at the normal higher pressure at which it is intended to be used,

so that the wear on a tire at a lower pressure for a given mileage is equal to the wear on the same tire at the normal higher pressure for a much greater mileage. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the devices are so constructed as "to cause the register to register a higher mileage whenever the pressure in the tire falls below a predetermined point, and the extent of this higher mileage is proportioned approximately to the extent of the fall of pressure, thereby affording compensation for the misuse of the tire and protecting the guarantor. The increased mileage registered by the tire when incompletely inflated" is approximatelythe amount that would represent the mileage of the same tire'if operated fully inflated. The device comprises generally registering mechanism for the mileage andmeans connected operatively to the registering mechanism and actuated by fiexure of the tire through contact with the road-surface to Operate the registering mechanism. The range'of move- CONNECTICUT. 1 MILEAGE-REGISTER FOR TIRES.

1 151 743 Specification of Letters Iatent, I Patented'Aug, 3 1,

'ment of the actuating means for the registering mechanism is proportioned tothfe,

range of flexure of the tire so that when the latter increases through decreaseofth air pressure, the registermileagef increases in substantial accordance therewith. Refer-Q 7 ence is now to be had to the accompanying drawings for a detailed descriptionof one? form of the invention, which is illustrated merely by Way of example, in which--22.

Figure 1 is a view partly in side el'eira-- tion and partly in section of a wheel and pneumatic tire therefor, part of the tirebeing broken away to show the improved register mounted in the tire. Fig. 2 is a detail view in vertical section andvon a somewhat larger scale of a register embody-f ing the invention. Fig. 3 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section of the register shown in Fig. 2 part of the we.

ing being broken away to show the regisl --ter1ng devices. T

The improved register comprises generally registering devices inclosed in. a casing a, to which is hmgedly secured a stifi arm or plate I) through a pintle pin a passin I through cooperating lugs a and -b forme respectively along the-meeting edges of the" casing and arm. Interposed between the 5 arm 6 and thepintle 0 are clutch devices,

of any approved form, illustrated'herein y as spring-pressed rollers d resting in pe-w ripheral recesses a formed in the pintl'o.

By the Position of these rollers d the arm b is permitted to move freely about the pintle ,0 and with respect to it, in one direction, but is locked to the pintle andservos to rock it when moved in the opposite direcc in one direction is transmitted to the reg-v ister in convenient units of distance, such-p 1 as miles, in a manner now to be described.

'threads c' whichengage a. worm goal-3e" fixed on the hub of a mutilated gear wheel The pintle a has formed thereon'worm' f, the tooth f of which cooperates with 8 Geneva gear ,9 upon each revolutionofthe '1 wheel 'f. The shaft I; of the Geneva gear-g9 carries an eccentric i, the face of which-engages two spur gears'k'and honoured to;

each other, and operatively di spectively to a fixed internal gea'r m and a rotatable internal gear a, by which the named; gear is given a diflerential rotative movement with respect to the fixed inter rial-gear at'a speed greatly reduced from the.

frotative speed of the shaft h, all as appears from prior' Letters Patent of the United States No. 548,482 granted to the applicant on October 22, 1895. The rotatable internal gear n has its face nf carried to a hub n which .fits snugly in an opening in the wall of the casing a and has its face flush with said wall whereby an indicating mark, such as n on the hub, can be readily observed with respect to a convenient scale a, which may bemarked on the wall of the-casing a about the hub. a This scale may be graduated, for instance, into sub-divisions of 100 miles, and main divisions of 200, miles,

thereby enabling the mileage of the tire, as

l registered in the manner to be described, to

-be read off with substantial accuracy. It

is to ,beunderstood, howeventhat in a de- 'viceofthis character, great accuracy is not 'essentia1 as the mileage' guarantee usually runs into the thousands; s

25,", --I practice the improved register will be ,m'ountedon'the inner face of the shoe 0 of LIthe-tirepandthe casing a will be fixed thretbz, 'WhiIe the-arm bwill lie in operative "relationf'to' the innervface of the tread of th -erase astobe actuated by flexure when -the tread moves into'contact with the road surface. The register willlbeconstructed {of such'i'shape and size asto satisfy most efiicientlyj the requirements hiuse under the teicondition's encounterecl.v InFig. Lthe regfister is illustratedin somewhat exaggerated l 'propbrtiona tlie real distortion of the inner tube-,0 oftheztirebeing, in practice, much i, lless'thanthat-indicated.i Further, the posi- 40 ofthe register onthe-inner face of the ove to be: more convenient to place the egister substantially transversely to the r marshmthanlon gitudinally thereof, as

,,1 llustrated,- The register may be held in po- I .j .sition by mea-nsof iisuitable canvas pocket, uch a's' o fixed torth'el inner wallof the shoe hereby subjecting th'eiinner tube 0' to miniulnystrains. With theregister in the posi- .casingl'a' or-insome other predetermined positionwith respect thereto and -will be .5 ockedperiodically with, respect to the eas feed ll'hbe-returned to its normal position a re'spectto thecasing under the stress may-beehtnged as desired, as it may "and" united therewith along easy curves,

ion described, the'arm b willnormallybe ":"r'naintained in substantial alinement with the its jgpi'edterinined position with respect to casingland -iwhen this portion of: the

eavesthe surface of the road, the armof the elastic tire which resumes its normal arcuate outline at the portion as soon as this portion is relieved of the pressure to" which it is subjected whenin contact with the road the return movement being accom panied by a rocking of the pintle c by reason of the clutching action of the rollers d, all in the manner hereinbefore described. This rocking movement of the pintle 0 is sufli-' gle. Since the mileage register is dependent upon the extent of movement of the arm 6, compensation for decreased air pressure is always made. The speed reduction between the arm 7) 'and'the indicating scalea? can be varied as conditions of use require. When i v the tire is presented by theuser to the guarantor the register will. of course be withdrawn from the pocket 0 and the registered mileage observed.

Modifications in the-structure of the regis- I terin'g mechanism, in the character of the actuating means therefor, and in the form of the connection between the actuating means and the registering mechanism, and rearrangements of the parts and the relation of the register to the tire, may be made as conditions of use and good mechanical practice dictate without departing from the spirit of the invention, provided such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims. I

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In combination with a pneumatic tire.- for vehicles, a mileage register therefor,

comprising registering mechanism and means operated by the relative movement or flexure of two adjagent parts of the tread of the tire to actuatethc registering mecha vmsm.

2.' Incombination with a pneumatic tire thereby .and movable with respect thereto,

the means being engaged operatively by'the H tire and operated periodically by the flexure thereof.

3. In combination with a pneumatic tire for vehicles, a mileage register therefor, comprising registering mechanism located Within the fabric of'the tire, an arm movable with respect to the registering mechanism by fiexure of the tire, and a clutch interposed between said arm and the registering mechanism to cause actuation of the a mileage register therefor, comprising registering mechanism fixed with respect to the tire, an arm hingedly mounted thereon and movable by fiexure of the tire, and a clutch inter osed in.the hinged connection to permit 'ree movement of the arm with respect to the registering mechanism in one direction while causing actuation of the registerging mechanism when the arm is moved in the opposite direction.

1 5. In combination with a pneumatic tire or vehicles, a mileage register therefor, mounted on the inner face of the tire, and in- .ciuding registering mechanism fixed with' respect to the tire an-arm operatively connected to the registering mechanism and disposed in operative relation to the inner face of the tread of the tire so as to be moved by fiexure of the tire at each revolution thereof, and a clutch interposed between the arm and the registering mechanism to trans- I mit the movement of the arm to the registering mechanism.

6. In combination with a pneumatic tire the inner face of the tire and includin lstering mechanism, an arm disposed in operative relation to the inner face of the tread of the tire and movable by flexure of the tire for vehicles, a mileage register mounted on regat each revolution thereof, said arm being hingedly mounted on the registering mechanism, and clutch devices interposed between :the arm and the registering mechanism for transmitting movement of the arm to the registering mechanism. I

This specification si ned and. witnessed this 23rd day of Decem er A: 1)., 1914.

CURTIS HTFSSEY vnnnnn- Signed in the presence of HELEN M. Dance, Wonrnmeron CAMPBELL. 

